Hi everyone, we are in the process of getting bids to remodel our 1990s pool (coping, tile, finish). It seems that travertine coping from NPI and NPT and everywhere else is always 12xX but our current brick coping is 9 inches. One builder said he would just cut our aggregate deck all the way around to accommodate the 12 inches, but our pool is excessively geometric and that just would not look right. I know plenty of people have remodeled 9 inch coping with travertine, so what is the standard? Can I expect to find a builder to source 12 inch travertine coping and cut EVERY single piece to 9 inches, or is that entirely unrealistic? Thanks!
What is travertine coping process when remodeling 9 inch coping?
- Thread starter RedTx
- Start date
I wouldn't think it's unrealistic to cut every piece. We had 6x12 travertine as the coping on our new build. Not the exact scenario as you but back wall was just over 12 inches wide so the 12 inch pieces weren't quite long enough. They ended up cutting with a tile wet saw every single piece of travertine so they could run 2 smaller courses and cover the width properly. That was about 30 feet.
- Jul 3, 2013
- 9,028
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-40
You could go with a paver that is 6x9 and they have TONS of different types and colors.. Here is just one 
Hi BigPapaSmurf! Do you mind sharing a pic of your pool with the coping? I’m struggling on our remodel because we currently have a 14in flagstone coping along our back raised beam that we want to replace with travertine. 16x24’s are not in stock anywhere, so PB wants to get 12x24’s and cut them at 7 and 7 with a 1/8 grout line down the middle all the way along the back wall. The thought of this is really bugging me, and I can’t find a single visual anywhere to get an idea of how it would look. I could be totally wrong, but I was thinking your scenario seems somewhat similar to mine with cutting pieces to get to the appropriate width.
Toxophilite
Silver Supporter
Every single piece of travertine is going to have to be hand-cut and fit no matter. It's even the same if you didn't have a deck yet at all. They will lay it all the way around, stacking every other one across the top of the one before and the one after. It will end up having one up, on top, next down, on bottom, all the way around. Once it's all balance to curve around the pool overhang evenly, each piece will have it's own unique keystone shaped by cutting marked side angles, as determined by the stacking process.
To get the cleanest and most uniform line at the coping to deck, since this will a geometric shape with different curves inward and outward on each piece, it should be done by cutting through coping and deck so they match perfectly on their respective curve. Your builder is correct about cutting the decking all the way around unless it's just to accommodate longer pieces, as a good paver with eye and saw can do a good job fitting existing. It's easier and nicer looking if the installers make both the same cut than them trying to replicate the existing curve, but I would assume you could dictate how far out that is going to be, as that end of paver is being cut no matter. You will probably see by looking at the cut waste that 12" was not too long to start with.
To get the cleanest and most uniform line at the coping to deck, since this will a geometric shape with different curves inward and outward on each piece, it should be done by cutting through coping and deck so they match perfectly on their respective curve. Your builder is correct about cutting the decking all the way around unless it's just to accommodate longer pieces, as a good paver with eye and saw can do a good job fitting existing. It's easier and nicer looking if the installers make both the same cut than them trying to replicate the existing curve, but I would assume you could dictate how far out that is going to be, as that end of paver is being cut no matter. You will probably see by looking at the cut waste that 12" was not too long to start with.
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BigPapaSmurf
Well-known member
Here you go
Attachments
Yes, this is exactly what has been done! Lol! I didn’t even know what I didn’t know about all of this, if that makes sense. But pretty much every piece was cut and it’s going to look just fine!